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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Benton

Kentucky

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Probable
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
1950s
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930 1021 28
1940 1906 23
1950
1960 3074 4
1970 3652 0
1980
1990 3899 7
2000 4197 26
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

A witness writes that Benton, SE of Paducah, is said to be sundown.

According to a local professor, Benton “has few if any blacks even today–and a reputation and history as very anti-black. It’s in Marshall County which I think has fewer than 10 African Americans–an increase since I moved here. There was a “Rosewood” type incident at Birmingham, Kentucky around 1907 in Marshall County. (Birmingham is now under Kentucky Lake, so you won’t find it on current maps.)